Honest Evangelism: The Painline of Evangelism

Many people really don’t like the gospel. Sometimes they express that politely, sometimes not politely at all; but they don’t like it.

This shouldn’t really surprise us. Think how incendiary much of what we believe is. We believe Jesus is the only way to know God. We believe the cross is the only way to be forgiven. We believe that one day, everyone will be judged.

So if you are going to talk to people about Jesus, you are going to get hurt. It is going to sever some relationships. It is going to provoke people. Not every time, and depending on our circumstances, friendship groups, workplaces and so on, our experiences will vary; but we will face rejection enough of the time to give us second thoughts, because I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly like getting hurt. We’re wired to assume that if we’re getting hit, something’s gone wrong. And so whenever I tell someone the gospel message, and get hit (metaphorically speaking), there’s a temptation either to stop saying anything, or to change what I’m saying. I know there’s a painline that needs to be crossed if I tell someone the gospel; but I want to stay the comfortable side of the painline. Of course I do!

I think that’s the main reason why we don’t do evangelism. Most Christians, when they first come to faith, want to tell others. Why wouldn’t you?! It’s brilliant—in Jesus you’re in relationship with the living God; you have an answer to death; you have an answer to your sin; you have a point and a purpose to your life. But sooner or later—and in the west, it’s happening increasingly soon—someone mocks you or wounds you or dislikes you. And because you’re not stupid, you figure it out: I don’t want to get hit, and this keeps getting me hit, so something’s gone wrong here. I’ll stop doing this.

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Truth For Life is the teaching ministry of Alistair Begg committed to teaching the Bible with clarity and relevance so that unbelievers will be converted, believers will be established, and local churches will be strengthened.